With the Jade Emperor’s permission, Mao wished to visit Liu Shaoqi at the place of his death in Kaifeng. That location has now been expanded into the “Liu Shaoqi Memorial Hall.” At the entrance of the museum, there was a ticket booth showing a price of 15 yuan. As a spirit, Mao was unseen by the staff and slipped in for free.

Passing through the front hall, he arrived at the rear courtyard, surrounded by three-story buildings facing each other. In the center was a small courtyard, quiet and eerie. On the south side of the west wing was a room marking Liu Shaoqi’s death, with a plaque inscribed by Yang Shangkun: “Chairman Liu Shaoqi’s Place of Death.”

Mao entered the room where Liu had died. Everything remained as it had been: the bed, bedding, oxygen tanks, medicine cabinets, and drugs. The museum notes explained that Chairman Liu Shaoqi was brought here by helicopter on October 17, 1969. Carried in on a stretcher, he was emaciated, almost skeletal, with only seven teeth left. He could not eat, sustained by nasal feeding, wrapped in a single blanket, with barely enough strength to speak. Shortly after, all personnel and supplies from Beijing were withdrawn. Medicines were unavailable, and he was forbidden to be sent to a hospital. He developed a high fever and endured until the morning of November 12, around six o’clock, when he passed away.

After his death, photographs were taken by the special investigation team. The next day, a cremation application card was completed. A jeep carried his body, but the vehicle was short, and his long legs protruded from the back. After cremation, the ashes were stored at the crematorium. The cremation card listed his name as “Liu Weihuang” and occupation as “Unemployed.”

Seeing the words “legs protruding” and “unemployed,” Mao recalled the years when he had contemplated putting Liu to death. Liu had died far more miserably than he had imagined. A wave of grim satisfaction surged through him, and he emitted two cold chuckles.

At night, Mao held the museum brochure he had taken from the Liu Shaoqi Memorial Hall, turning the pages repeatedly, unable to shake the image of Liu’s tragic death… gradually, Liu Shaoqi’s figure emerged.

Liu spoke in his native dialect: “Your spirit, how is your repentance proceeding?”

Mao, startled at first, quickly composed himself and said: “You also know that the Jade Emperor intends to conduct a public trial, don’t you?”

Liu: “The news has spread throughout the underworld; ghosts of all ranks are having parties celebrating the upcoming trial. Little demons from the Eighteen Levels of Hell say that you are impatiently waiting there?”

Mao: “The torment of purgatory is truly unbearable.”

Liu: “Our debate is nearing its final conclusion.”

Mao: “What debate?”

Liu: “I once said that the famine deaths of 1960 should be recorded in history. Today, nearly forty million who starved to death are indeed in the historical record. The nation’s history bears eternal shame.”

Mao responded: “That was my fault, but weren’t you partly responsible? At the Seventh Congress, you proposed establishing my ‘thought,’ and also gave me the final veto, consolidating my authority. It meant I alone decided everything, guaranteeing victory over Chiang Kai-shek. After the founding of the PRC, you continued to praise me. On May Day that year, the slogan ‘Long live Chairman Mao’ was added by me. You may have had objections in your heart, but you said nothing. Afterward, the slogan continued, and my ‘Long Live’ was secured.”

Liu listened calmly without speaking. Mao continued: “After people shouted ‘Long Live,’ the first major event was the Korean War. I noticed you all disagreed with sending troops but said nothing, waiting for my decision. I listened to Stalin, but I also had personal motives, wanting to gain great merit. I had to go all in with the Eastern bloc. The result was a complete break with the U.S.; we had only Stalin to rely on.”

Liu: “Yes! Our miscalculation in the Korean War left us with no hope dealing with the Americans. From then on, we became completely closed off, shutting the country, implementing your socialist reforms.”

Mao: “Your New Democratic path was correct! My socialist reforms leaned toward the Soviet model. Later, the USSR changed, disintegrated, and transformed.”

Liu: “At that time, you rushed collectivization. Actually, nobody agreed, and the peasants resisted. Later, during the communes, the Great Leap Forward, and the great famine, tens of millions perished. People starved. Even if we knelt a hundred times before the Jade Emperor, it would not atone for the sins!”

Mao: “You admit seven parts human error, not natural disaster. Taking responsibility intentionally… Communists never admit mistakes. You admit it, you gain people’s hearts. You gain people’s hearts, I lose mine. Your momentum surpassed mine. I had to launch the Cultural Revolution to bring you down and secure my position. What’s wrong with that?”

Liu, understanding, said: “You were not at fault. The fault lies with your parents for giving birth to you, and Jiang Qing letting you play all these years. But why later did you kick her aside?”

Mao: “Jiang Qing was attractive in her youth. Age diminishes beauty, not my fault. Besides, she was no match for Guangmei. If Jiang Qing had Guangmei’s beauty and virtue, perhaps we wouldn’t have had conflicts. Frankly, I preferred Guangmei to Jiang Qing. I invited her to the pool several times. Maybe you were unhappy?”

Liu: “Swimming for leisure… not much impropriety. But Jiang Qing’s jealousy flared. Rumors spread. People said it was ‘a war between two women,’ turned into a political issue.”

Mao: “Jiang Qing was a former actress, beautiful when young, but elementary education only. Guangmei was a genteel lady, educated in an American university, beautiful, refined, with a different temperament. Her swimming skills were excellent, gliding like a white fish. I liked her very much. In 1954, I invited her to swim with me, taught her, she was pleased. I often invited Wang Guangmei to swim. The happiest time was 1959 at Lushan Reservoir. Later Jiang Qing came, saw us enjoying swimming, got jealous, saying ‘the article is yours, the wife is someone else’s.’ I just laughed. Guangmei pretended not to hear.”

That year, I wanted her to accompany me swimming in the Yangtze, you declined, citing a cold.”

Though a ghost, Mao spoke vividly about women—truly a “lecherous ghost.”

Hearing Mao discuss Wang Guangmei, Liu felt disgusted. Mao, thinking he had “put a green hat on the national chairman,” secretly felt pleased. Liu dared not comment.

Changing the subject, Liu said: “During the Cultural Revolution, Guangmei was accused of being an American spy, and Jiang Qing wanted to kill her. Lin Biao consulted you, and you ordered ‘spare her life,’ so she was not executed. I was no longer among the living. Seems you still have some sentiment.”

Mao: “Of course, of course. I would not kill her for fun.”

NEXT: 33. Zhou Enlai (1898–1976)